To Halal And Back

I've been irritated by two specific instances of religious inanity today. This morning I was troubled to hear of the increase in the number of animals slaughtered for halal meat without being stunned beforehand. This can result in several minutes of suffering whilst the animals bleed out, in contrast with no observable pain response when the creature is stunned. Thank you Islam and Judaism for this latest example of how religious ideology truly does cause observable harm. And as a dessert we now see the Church dabbling in established science and objecting to amazing new research that could potentially alleviate the suffering of families afflicted with certain genetic conditions. I am of course wearily familiar with the ability of religion to put continued spokes in the wheels of progress, or discount the suffering of fellow sentient creatures due to some absurd Bronze Age dictate. As research shows, we have already emerged from the stench of traditional Christian thinking, whilst Islam's brand of moral perfection continues to pile up the bodies thanks to its extremist elements. Now I've said plenty of times that you are of course free to believe in imaginary friends and build your lives around the teachings of Bronze Age camel herders. I even support your right to do so. But I'd much rather you did this without doing so at the expense of others, or in ways that actively stand in the way of things that could alleviate harm. The simple truth is that animals need not suffer prior to slaughter, and families really can be helped by these new methods which can eradicate or at least drastically reduce the chances of inherited genetic conditions. I'm keen to see sentient creatures suffer less, and I'm behind all demonstrable and evidence based initiatives that facilitate this. But religion, whether it be the Christian death cult or the caliphate obsessed adherents of Islam, please pursue your delusion only to the extent that if affects you. You see, I've grown up. I'm not an infant in need of an imaginary friend. I'm an adult doing the best I can in a world full of complex moral conundrums. I have a personal relationship with reality, and I'm frankly just a little tired that the ghastly spectre of religion continues to belch plumes of ignorance into the present day.